“Here’s how I think Joni Mitchell is a genius. There’s a way to think about the world that changes it from an exclusionary term to a gateway. It’s the oldest definition, from the Latin: a guardian spirit associated with a time, place or community. This kind of genius doesn’t float above things. She recognizes the circumstances that call for her to speak and makes them newly audible.”

In TRAVELING, NPR music critic Ann Powers tries to define Joni Mitchell’s inimitable style and sense of genius as her (mostly male) counterparts have awarded her at every occasion since her breakout “Chelsea Morning” days. A lifelong superfan, she sets out to show how Mitchell has transformed music for eternity.

"Powers has captured a most remarkable life. If only the next group of musicians could use Mitchell’s experience to help them leap the barricades of fame and fortune."

It seems quite bold to speak for a performer who is still very much alive as she revels in a comeback after suffering a brain aneurysm that almost took her voice and her life. Mitchell has survived teen pregnancy and giving her baby up for adoption, a hole in her soul that was shored up decades later when mother and daughter were reunited. The events of her life --- breaking onto the scene and becoming an icon, being the belle of the ball with so many public romances, her health travails, and her progression into jazz, classical and other genres of music --- prove that she is one of the most celebrated musicians of the 20th and 21st centuries.

Powers blows up the usual biopic narrative by looking at these elements through the perspective of her own life and fandom. (The book is subtitled “On the Path of Joni Mitchell” for good reason.) Mitchell was the pied piper of the melancholy girl who wanted more, the strong woman full of desires, the superhero who could be the boss of herself both on and off the stage.

There is a lot of time spent on the different ways in which the male musicians Mitchell celebrated as friends and lovers introduced her to adventures that soon made their way into her songs. It was rare for her to walk away from any partnership without taking away something that would make her a better performer.

This is a story told before selfies, fake news, the internet and the paparazzi ruined the lives of those with the kinds of magical gifts that Joni Mitchell possesses. TRAVELING marks, step by step, how she stood tall, survived so much, and now exerts more power sitting in a chair than anyone with a Marshall stack or tabloid-ready features. Powers has captured a most remarkable life. If only the next group of musicians could use Mitchell’s experience to help them leap the barricades of fame and fortune.